National Tennis C'ship: Kaustubh and Taanish make winning starts

New Delhi, Oct 7 (IANS) Top seed Kaustubh Singh of Uttar Pradesh and fourth seed Taanish Nanda of Chandigarh advanced to the second round of the Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship in the Boys’ U-14 Singles category at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Kaustubh showed his quality by defeating Hariharan Mahamuni 9–2 in just under an hour. The Uttar Pradesh player won straight eight games after Hariharan won the first game and dropped only two games in the entire contest, and sealed victory with consistent baseline control and sharp serves.

Taanish also delivered an excellent performance, blanking Rishav Prasad 9–0. He did not lose a single game, breaking his opponent’s serve at every opportunity while maintaining a flawless rhythm on his own delivery.

Supported by DCM Shriram Ltd. and held under the aegis of the All-India Tennis Association (AITA) and the Delhi Lawn Tennis Association (DLTA), the Fenesta Open continues to showcase India’s most promising junior talent.

Meanwhile, sixth seed Monodip Dey of West Bengal also impressed with a resounding 9–1 win against Ansh Jalota. Dey broke his opponent’s serve repeatedly and conceded just a single game in a dominant display.

Besides the prestigious titles, the winners will be awarded a kit allowance in the junior categories. The winners and runners-up in the U-16 and U-14 singles events will also receive a tennis scholarship of Rs 25,000 each.

Earlier, Tamil Nadu’s Manish Sureshkumar and Maharashtra’s Vaishnavi Adkar continued their winning run to clinch the men’s and women’s singles titles, respectively, in the senior categories.

Earlier on Monday, The boys’ u-16 singles main draw at the ongoing Fenesta Open National Tennis Championship saw three seeded players, Prakaash Sarran, Hruthik Katakam and Tavish Pahwa record dominant wins to march into the next round at the DLTA Complex.

Sixth seed Hruthik Katakam beat Rudra Batham 6–2, 6–1 in a clinical display that lasted 1 hour 10 minutes. Hruthik did not face a single break point throughout the match, breaking Batham’s serve five times across two sets to seal a convincing win.

--IANS

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